The product description for this book is terrible. I was expecting: 1. picture of alligator, 2. a block of text about alligators. And that would repeat for lots of animals. Easy review.

Instead, this is more of a textbook on all forms of life. I’m paging through this huge book, and read through some facts about jellyfish and corals. Now I’m on chaetognaths, or arrow worms. After that, sea cucumbers. “Deuterostomes are also known as enterocoelomates because their coelem develops through enterocoely.” I haven’t seen four of those words before. So this is more like a textbook, to some extent.

It’s profusely illustrated, and is actually quite readable in the more mammalian sections. “Cats are unusually dependent on a constant supply of the amino acid arginine, and a diet lacking arginine causes marked weight loss.” “A 450-kilogram horse will eat 7-11 kilograms of food per day, and drink 38-45 liters of water.” “When mating, the female seahorse deposits 1500 eggs in the male’s pouch.”

This is a huge book. So far, I haven’t been able to find a single page that didn’t teach me something interesting.